Belated Memorium

John Hurt. Mary Tyler Moore. Bill Paxton.

These names all deserve a lot more words from me than I can give them right now. All have left their mark on me, to varying degrees. All will be missed.

Our Only Hope

The Princess is Dead. Long Live the Princess.

From Hollywood Royalty to Galactic Royalty twice-over. Subversive as a Damsel in Distress (as well as real life). Leader of a Rebellion but at times unable to keep her own body from rebelling against her.

Carrie Fisher got through it all with an impish grin and a dignity that didn't always match her actions.

The Star Wars Saga has seen many of its great collaborators pass on over the years, one all too recently in fact. But this? To a Star Wars fan, this is the equivalent of losing a Beatle.

The Force will be with you, Carrie, always.

I'm in PAIN....and I'm WET....AND I'M STILL HYSTERICAL!

I'm a little late to this due to working on getting my laptop up and running again, but I wanted to take some time to mourn the passing of a comedy legend.

Gene Wilder. Many people of my generation remember Gene best as Willy Wonka, but while he certainly gave the best performance of the character that I've seen, I prefer the Burton film in every other category.

No, I remember Gene Wilder as Fredrick Frankenstein ("Fronkensteen"?). As Leo Bloom, and the Waco Kid. Arguably Mel Brooks' greatest collaborator, though he had much success on his own as far as talent is concerned.

Wilder was a clown, but one with dignity and grace. Softspoken, but with a manic energy hidden just below the surface that would explode when you least expected it.

The last time I saw him, he was the Mock Turtle in a wonderful made-for-TV "Alice in Wonderland" adaptation. That was in 1998. After that, he dropped out of my and most others' radar. Mel mentioned getting his blessing a few years back for the YF musical, but other than that no signs he was still around.

It was sad to hear that he was in poor health in recent years, as well as the tragedies he went through in his life. But for us? All he gave us was smiles.

Say hi to Gilda, Zero, Marty, Madeline, Richard, and Peter for us.

If Any of My Circuits or Gears will Help, I'll Gladly Donate Them

I had to pop on through my phone to pay respects to the actor who brought the true hero of the Star Wars Saga to life.

Kenny Baker was a true renaissance man, a veteran of film and vaudeville and by all accounts a professional and pleasant man to work with.

George Lucas wrote R2-D2. Ben Burtt and his sound team gave him a voice. Artists, fabrication teams, puppeteers, and animators too numerous to mention by name gave him physical form. But it was Kenny Baker, and Kenny alone, that gave R2-D2 his soul. The most important droid in the galaxy. Mechanic of royalty, partner to Jedi, agent and savior of rebellion.

Kenny, you will be missed. The Force will be with you, always.

Bewitching the Mind and Ensnaring the Senses.

This week we lost not one, but two entertainment greats. Each are deserving of their own post, but I decided to put them together because of the shocking fact that the reports of their passing are interchangeable:

"Dead at 69, after a long battle with cancer, surrounded by family and friends."

And I had no idea either of them were even sick.

While the title of this post is a direct quote from a character played by one of these men, I felt it accurately described how people felt and reacted to both of them during their long and illustrious careers (well, one a bit longer than the other).

Today, we say goodbye to David Bowie and Alan Rickman.

Now, I'll admit I wasn't the biggest fan of Bowie's music - I didn't dislike it, in fact there were a couple of songs I really liked, but he was never one of my favorites. But I admired and respected what he brought to the music industry. Plus, it's weird how relevant he was to my recent life - first I play a video game where I hear his voice in my head instantly for the true final boss, then I lose a Halloween costume contest to a woman dressed as Jareth from Labyrinth. This was a shocking enough loss...

But then to hear of Alan's passing so suddenly, and the fact that as I said above it's almost exactly the same story made me think it was another one of those horrible pranks. Alas, we've lost a great voice (in more than one meaning) of film. I first saw Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest, and have since adored him in everything I've seen him in: Dogma, Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Love Actually, Sweeney Todd, the list goes on. It was really Alan Rickman being cast as Severus Snape in the first Harry Potter film that led me to finally checking out the books and becoming the Potter fan I am today, and it's one of his best and most fitting roles. Finally, Alan Rickman is important to me personally because of his story: He was in textiles most of his life until finally getting fed up and becoming an actor at the age of 41 - so whenever I watch people my own age or younger become superstars and start to worry about what I'm doing with my life, Alan's story reminds me it's never too late.


Goodbye, Alan and David. We'll miss you both, Always. Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing we can do.

Down for the Count

(Originally Written for Jedi News)

This article is dedicated to the memory of Christopher Lee, a true legend of our era.

"We salute you"

What Time Do You Think We Have?

I first saw Christopher Lee in "Gremlins 2: The New Batch." He played the comically serious mad scientist Dr. Catheter, who ran the genetics laboratory Splice-O'-Life in the mall-like Clamp Center office building. I was about 10 years old. When I saw his name in the credits, I was thinking perhaps that it was another relative of Bruce Lee. That was quickly put to rest.

My father showed me clips of some of the old Hammer Horror films of which he had been a fan growing up. I had a harder time getting into them, but I was still captivated by Lee.

That started the next few years of watching various thing, none of which I remember clearly, but saying "Oh look, it's Christopher Lee again."

By the time I saw his turn as Saruman in "Lord of the Rings," he had become one of my favorite performers of all time.

When I found out he was cast in Star Wars, I was over the moon.

He always gave a commanding performance in everything I've seen him in. Looking at his life, he became someone to look up to.

I guess I knew in my mind that he wouldn't be around forever, and his overall health had been declining for some time, but to have someone as active and accomplished in life as him simply pass so suddenly (well, as suddenly as one can at 93) brings home the inevitability of mortality.

But as sad as I am that Sir Christopher's life and career has come to an abrupt end, the best thing I can do is revel in his impressive body of work and strive to be even a fraction as professional, gentlemanly, and achieved as our stalwart star of the silver screen.

Sir Christopher Lee, I salute you:

For another fan's perspective, read Lazy-Padawan's tribute.

Many people he has worked with, of whom I am also fans, have given quite an outpouring, but for me the one that sums it up best is Peter Jackson's Facebook Post

Finally, for more trivia and info on the man himself, there's really no better place than his TVTropes entry.

Competition of the Stars

(Originally Written for Jedi News)

The Stars in question here being Wars and Trek.

Nanu Nanu

You were the Bat that got me to start quoting movies.

You were the Genie that showed me I could love, and laugh, with Disney.

You were the dad who posed as the nanny to see his kids, at a time when I was caught in the middle of my own parents.

You were the comic who, when you did stand-up, made me nearly pass out in laughter every time without fail.

You were the best parts of what you did.

I don't do these a lot, because too many good people leave us every day to even keep up. But I had to say something today, because of how much your work has touched and influenced me. Part of me is still hoping that in a few hours it'll turn out to be a hoax. But I know after the chaos of your life, you deserve a peaceful rest.

The Genie has been freed.

Farewell, Mr. Williams.

My Wife is Amazing

Look at my wife. My wife is amazing.

Well, you can't actually LOOK at her here, because I'm not posting her pictures here because privacy. If you're that curious, she's on Facebook all the time (and I am NOT, despite what a page that hasn't been looked at much less updated in years might suggest).

R.I.P. Richard LeParmentier

If you don't recognize the name, you'll recognize the face. I never really knew his name, but he played two small but memorable roles in two of my favorite films of all time.

I first saw him as Lt. Santino, Eddie's police contact in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

Of course his most memorable role would be Imperial Admiral Motti, whose lack of faith Darth Vader found disturbing in "A New Hope."

This past Monday, Richard died suddenly at age 66. None of my sources mentioned cause of death, but I'm sure that information will be available soon. In any case, it doesn't matter. What matters is that he was a talented actor and he will be missed.

So This Is How Liberty Dies: With Thundrous Applause

I was having such a good day. I read a great Grievous meme on Memebase, my Jar Jar Mimobot came in (and it's #66!!!!), I came up with some great I-III t-shirt designs I'm going to make if I can.

Then I read this.

So not only is Star Wars continuing to go to hell (thanks, hateboys), but the traditional Disney animation is gone too.

Disney, you're dead to me. I don't know at this point how much I'm going to be willing or able to give up seeing as you own so much that I love, but somehow, some way, I need to show you that this is NOT okay.

R.I.P. Clone Wars

Well, it's official. The Clone Wars have been cancelled.

This has stirred up a lot of feelings for me, most of which I will dedicate in a Jedi News article for next week (I already sent in part 2 of the Fave Character article for this week), but those feelings are more broad around the saga.

More to the point of Clone Wars, I am glad that if it had to end, it went out on the note it did. It was a perfectly doen finale, and it's really the timing of it all that gets me twisted up in knots. Had the show ended like this under Lucasfilm's reign with everything else still on track, I'd have been disappointed, but I would have respected the Maker's decision and life would have gone on.

As it is, however, this smells stinkowith.

Stay tuned for next week's dissertation.

Now We Have To Remember It Again?

It is truly the end of an era.

I didn't see "To Boldly Flee", but I am only now aware of the aftermath. The Nostalgia Critic is no more.

We didn't always agree (see some previous posts on that subject), but I was almost always entertained. I'm actually quite choked up that the series has come to an abrupt end.

I am looking forward to seeing what new projects Mr. Walker has in the works (and hope his casting call isn't just for Chicago, hint hint).

I am going to update my links to the NC archives, so you can all go right to the best part of That Guy With The Glasses.

*Cue Nostalgic Whistling*

R.I.P. Andy Griffith (1926 - 2012)

You were a funny and personable performer, and you will be missed. At least now you can see Don again.